Coming-of-age romantic comedy Me & Orson Welles will start principal photography in the Isle of Man on February 24th, before moving to Pinewood Studios, London locations and New York.
Zac Efron (Hairspray, “High School Musical”) and Claire Danes (Stardust, Romeo & Juliet) head a starry ensemble cast in the CinemaNX production of the romantic theatrical comedy “Me & Orson Welles,” to be filmed by Oscar®-nominated director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Before Sunset).
The screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo Jr. is based on the novel by Robert Kaplow, a coming-of-age story set in the heady world of New York theatre. Efron plays a teenage student who lucks his way into a minor role in the 1937 Mercury Theatre production of “Julius Caesar,” directed by 22-year-old genius Orson Welles. In the words of Kaplow’s protagonist: “This is the story of one week in my life. I was seventeen. It was the week I slept in Orson Welles’s pajamas. It was the week I fell in love. It was the week I fell out of love.”
Newcomer Christian McKay, an alumnus of RADA and the Royal Shakespeare Company, stars as Orson Welles, alongside Ben Chaplin (The New World, The Truth About Cats And Dogs) as George Coulouris, Kelly Reilly, Eddie Marsan as John Houseman and Leo Bill as Norman Lloyd. The featured cast also includes Imogen Poots and National Theatre and RSC actor Aidan McArdle. Further casting to be announced.
